24. The early reign of Bakenanhur
Year 2, second month of the season of Harvest, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepkara [1], the Son of Ra Bakenanhur, ever-living, His Majesty spoke thus:
‘Hear what I did, exceeding the ancestors, I the King, living likeness of Horus, fashioned by Khnum, whom the foreign lands fear more than any other, the good god, beloved by the Two Lands, whom Amun-Ra has granted the beneficent kingship over Upper and Lower Egypt: when I ascended the Throne the land was in turmoil, the fields were barren, the flood did not come and the temples were but heaps of rubble, like that which has never come into being. Words of treason were spoken against me, and isfet had spread throughout the land, the common people were desperate and cried out in anguish. I was with the army in Asia, and all agreed that the kingship should pass to me. I hurried to Egypt and overcame the wrongdoers, on the battlefield I was like a hunting lion, the enemy casualties innumerable. I reinstated the worship of the gods and ordered all the temples of the land renovated, it was I who restored ma’at and it was I who smote isfet. The Two Lands rejoiced in my presence. ’
- Inscription of Bakenanhur at the Horus-shrine at Ipet-Mehu
Bakenanhur’s victory at Imou in November 317 cemented his claim to the Throne of Horus, and he was coronated at the Ipet-Mehu not long after in a magnificent ceremony. Unlike his predecessor, and more in line with other monarchs since the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, he preferred the Delta and the north over the south, which he visited rarely. He seems to have divided his time between the administrative capital at Memphis and the dynastic capital at Tjebnetjer, with visits to his own ancestral home of Sau or to Waset mentioned in the records. It seems he quickly gained the allegiance of the rest of the country, and already during his first year donations in his name are mentioned at Ipetsut.
However, despite his victory over Horsaiset there still remained some simmering unrest, mostly concentrated in the Western Delta. Already during his first year several expeditions into the Western Delta are mentioned, to supress revolting dynasts who still refused to submit. The exact reason for their intransigence is unknown, but it probably was the same as the reason for their rebellion’s during Nakhthorheb’s rule; dissatisfaction with the increasingly centralized rule combined with Bakenanhur’s seemingly shaky claim to the throne. Various princes of the Delta continued to resist Bakenanhur, they withheld taxes and even launched raids on royal estates, and like many of his predecessors he was greatly hindered by them. Unlike those earlier kings however Bakenanhur was determined to break them, and he had the means to do so. Not much is known about these campaigns, as Egyptian kings did not like to focus on internal unrest in their records, but foreign sources attest that not long after his coronation Bakenanhur started his campaign.
In 316 the pharaoh was present at the siege of Per-Wadjet, an ancient Delta town, where several dynasts were holed up. Siege towers were constructed, the walls seized and the town fell. The dynasts were dragged before the pharaoh and executed, in what must have been a significant blow to their cause. Many of them now surrendered and were pardoned, but some continued their resistance. It was in early 315 when the conflict reached its height, when an army under Bakenanhur confronted a coalition of Delta princes supported by Libyan mercenaries near Mareia in the Western Delta. Located on the shores of Lake Mareotis it is mostly known from Greek sources, who report on it because Bakenanhur deployed many Hellenic mercenaries during the campaign. Once again the sources are scarce, but the outcome of the battle could leave no doubt; once again the new king of Egypt was victorious. Estates were seized and added to the royal domains or donated to one of the major cults. Those dynasts who had remained loyal or had changed sides were allowed to keep their lands and machimoi, but in hindsight it is clear that this was the beginning of the end for the Delta aristocracy. Throughout the centuries they had held sway over Egypt’s richest lands, they had brought forth several pharaonic dynasties and had been the driving force behind the almost continual rebellions against Achaemenid rule. Now however, after successive defeats against the ruling dynasty, which itself had origins among the Delta aristocracy, their military power was broken. The pharaoh’s professional senenu and mercenary forces bested the machimoi, many of whom now took up direct service in the army in exchange for keeping their plot of land. Off course many of the Delta dynasts were kept in place, but they were now just landholders without much military strength.
It is only after this campaign that Bakenanhur turned his attention to other matters, foremost the legitimization of his rule. In August 315 he travelled to Waset, where he was once again coronated at Ipetsut, which coincided with the Opet-festival [2]. Once in Waset he made a tour of southern Egypt, visiting Iunu-Montu, Djeba and Swenet. He made lavish offerings to the temples of the south and made sure that the Cult of Amun-Ra would be loyal by granting them several recently seized Delta estates. At Ipetsut itself he ordered the construction of a new shrine to Amun-Ra, lavishly decorated and with on the walls a rather embellished version of the story of his ascent to the throne and his supposedly predestined kingship. The Temple of Osiris-Heqadjet, part of the complex of Ipetsut, was somewhat dilapidated and Bakenanhur had it restored, ensuring that it would be his name that would be inscribed upon its walls. At the dynastic capital at Tjebnetjer work was already underway on the tomb of Bakenanhur at the inner court of the Temple of Anhur-Shu, besides the tombs of Nakhthorheb and Nakhtnebef II, showing that he was to be regarded as their rightful successor and a true member of the dynasty.
A temple near the riverbank
More important were the works of Bakenanhur at the Ipet-Mehu [3]. There he had several shrines constructed and he expanded the Festival Hall, where Nakhthorheb had celebrated the Sed-festival and where Bakenanhur had held his coronation. The enclosure wall was completed under his rule and he also attested as having ordered the construction of extensive living quarters for the priests, including workshops and storerooms. His most impressive addition was the temple of Amun, which with its marble columns shows a remarkable Greek influence that doesn’t show up in southern Egypt. Another striking monument was a colossal statue of the king himself, which stood on an artificial mound in the floodplain just outside the entrance of the temple complex. Carved from red granite from Swenet it shows the king seated as a majestic figure, gazing towards the Ipet-Mehu. While his predecessor depicted himself often as a valiant king, muscular and ready to strike the enemy, the image of Bakenanhur is one not of royal militarism but of eternal youth, which put the emphasis on his divinity. During the season of the flood, when the waters rose, the statue stood amidst the waters of the floodplain. For the Egyptians it was an striking image, for the statue of the king arising from the waters was meant to imitate that of the creator himself, Atum-Ra, who stood upon the benben mount which arose from the primordial waters of Nun. Implicitly connecting himself with the act of creation, Bakenanhur thus promoted himself not just as a normal monarch but as a true divine ruler.
But even a divine ruler could not rule the Two Lands all by himself. Bakenanhur made some important administrative reforms, most notably the splitting of the vizierate. The vizier Ankhefenkhonsu had been appointed by Nakhtnebef II, but Bakenanhur perhaps feared that allowing one man such responsibilities could undermine his own position. Ankhefenkhonsu, himself originally from Upper Egypt, was thus send to Waset, to function as the vizier of Upper Egypt. A high-rank nobleman named Sennedjemibranakht [4] was named as Vizier of Lower Egypt. Usermontu was kept in place as governor of Nubia. Bakenanhur himself was, despite his military background, more of an administrator than Nakhtnebef II had been, and he is known to have taken interest in and having presided over court cases and other disputes.
While inside Egypt itself Bakenanhur promoted himself as a divine ruler, abroad he had to be more careful. Whenever a request arrived from Babylon, such as when Alexander requested Egyptian architects for one of his monuments, the pharaoh more or less acquiesced, and Alexander naming Egypt as a vassal state in one of his inscriptions is not entirely without merit. Bakenanhur was a realistic man, and he must have known that Egypt stood no chance against the Argeads on their own, despite the frustrations this must have caused among his compatriots. Despite this the early years of his rule were prosperous. The end of the civil war and the resumption of trade with the Argead Empire, combined with several excellent inundations and the continued flow of gold from Nubia meant that the Egyptian economy rebounded quickly after the disaster of the succession struggle. In his family life the king was also successful, early in his reign he fathered a son with his Great Royal Wife Mutnefret, who he named Nakhthorheb, who became heir to the kingdom. This was not his first son, for the king, himself around 45 years old when he ascended to the throne, already had been married before marrying Mutnefret, and it was from that marriage that he already had a son named Psamtek and several daughters. With the succession secure and Egypt back on the road to prosperity it must have seemed as if despite his bloody ascent Bakenanhur’s reign would be a fortunate one for Egypt.
Footnotes
- Bakenanhur’s throne name, which means ‘who pleases the ka of Ra’
- OTL sometimes pharaohs tried to coincide a coronation ceremony with the Opet-festival, for example Horemheb did so.
- The temple complex near Memphis, see update 16
- This name means ‘Sennedjemibra (= Nakhthorheb) is victorious’, such names, containing a royal name appear throughout Egyptian history, and emphasize loyalty to the ruling dynasty.